Twinsfest 2014 was held at Target Field for the first time ever and I went in to the weekend not knowing how it would work out and certainly set low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised!
I left work Friday afternoon around 2:30 and arrived in the skyway line at 3:00. I was probably 60th in line. I waited an hour in the cold but it was not as cold in the skyway leading to the Legends Club entrance. They opened the doors and there was only one person there to scan tickets. I was quickly getting frustrated that our line was barely moving but I could see the line at Gate 29 moving so fast people were practically running. I figured there was no shot for Joe Mauer for me. The line finally started moving after a second ticket scanner arrived and I went right to the Mauer line. Luckily for me I was number 248 and fully expected to get through the line. The people running the Mauer line were awesome getting people through the line. I was able to get Joe to autograph his 2006 Allen & Ginter card. I then went from the Suite Level to the Service Level for the next signing station. There I got Phil Hughes on two Topps Heritage cards for clubnuts (Mark C on SCN). I then got Brian Duensing to sign his 2014 Topps card. Next up was Kyle Gibson. I told him he made his ML debut on my birthday on my birthday and my daughter was at the game with me. He commented “That was a great day!”. I asked him to sign my ticket with ML Debut and 1st Win and he did. Caleb Theilbar was next and signed his debut ticket with ML Debut. Last was Mike Kvasnicka who started Cami’s Twinsfest baseball by signing on the sweetspot. I then scurried to the next station and got Ricky Nolasco on a baseball. Next up was Casey Fien and Kyle Knudson who added their autographs to Cami’s baseball. Last was Jason Bartlett. I handed him an eTopps card and a Topps Heritage card (for Mark C) with a picture from the 2008 World Series on it. He commented “These are a couple cool cards!” and signed them. Then it was off to the next station. There I got Josh Willingham on his 2013 Topps “Over the Wall” short print card. He commented that this card showed his “non-existent vertical” as he was jumping over the wall but could not get to the ball in the picture which went for a home run. That was pretty funny. Alex Meyer, Jose Berrios and BJ Hermsen each signed a pair of cards for me and Logan Darnell signed Cami’s ball. I then walked to the other side of the suite level and got Mike Pelfrey on his 2013 Topps Heritage high numbered card as well as his 2013 Topps update card. Jared Burton signed his 2013 Topps Heritage card for Mark C as did Chris Parmelee (sporting a cast on his right wrist/hand) and Chris Herrmann. Joe Vavra signed Cami’s baseball and asked who signed the sweetspot. I told him it was Mike Kvasnicka and he kinda looked at me with a “who in the hell is Mike Kvasnicka and why is he signing the sweetspot” look. I shrugged my shoulders, took the baseball and got back in the same line for the next group. We waited for Samuel Deduno to show up. Everyone was there but Sam and when he showed up about 10 minutes late, everyone clapped. It was funny. I got Sam on his 2013 Topps Update card and moved to Glen Perkins. Glen signed his 2013 Topps update all star card and his 2013 Topps Heritage card for me. Next up was Kurt Suzuki who signed a baseball for me and Chris Colabello who signed his 2013 Topps update card. Last was Alex Presley who signed a couple Topps Heritage cards. I headed to the next station I hope to get and they cut off the line with only four people in front of me. The poor woman who volunteered felt so bad about doing it. She was genuinely sad. It was cool though. Can’t be upset at her for doing her job and doing it without pay!
I headed down to the dealers’ sections and saw my friend Tony Swann. As I mentioned last year, Tony is trying to get a ticket from every game Carlton Fisk played in. Tony is awesome. He knows I collect Kirby Puckett tickets and gave me a ticket from the game he got his 1,000th hit. Tony is the man! Thanks Tony! I then cruised over to my buddy Joel and talked with him for a bit and headed home.
Day 1 turned out to be a great day and I was pumped for Day 2!